QUESTIONS: Rav Yehudah says in the name of Shmuel that the rods of a weaver may be handled and moved on Shabbos. Rav Yehudah was in doubt whether one may also move the beams of the loom (which hold the warp threads). The Gemara concludes that Shmuel permitted moving the beams of the loom.

RASHI (DH Mutar l'Taltelan) explains that one is permitted to handle the rods of the weaver because they are not utensils which are designated for a forbidden labor ("Melachtan l'Isur"). He explains (DH Mahu) that the reason Rav Yehudah was in doubt whether one may handle the beams of the loom is because perhaps they are objects which are designated for a forbidden labor. Rashi points out that if the weaver is strict not to use the utensil for any other purpose, then it is considered an object designated for a forbidden labor. If, however, the weaver does not care if someone uses it for another purpose, it is not considered designated for a forbidden labor.

(a) Rashi's explanation is difficult to understand. First, even if the weaver allows these utensils to be used for other purposes, their primary use is for weaving, which is a forbidden labor. Therefore, these utensils should still be considered to be utensils designated for a forbidden labor, regardless of whether the weaver also uses it for other purposes! (REBBI AKIVA EIGER)

(b) Second, the Gemara says that one is permitted to move these items. Rashi explains that they may be moved because they are not utensils designated for a forbidden labor. However, even if they were designated for a forbidden labor, they should still be permitted to be moved if one needs to use them for a permitted purpose, or if one needs the place on which they are resting ("l'Tzorech Gufan u'Mekoman"). Shmuel should have said that one is permitted to move items from the sun into the shade, since the weaver is not strict about using them for other purposes!

ANSWER: It seems that when Rashi uses the term "designated for a forbidden labor," he does not refer to the normal concept of utensils that are used for a Melachah that is Asur ("Kli she'Melachto l'Isur"). Rather, Rashi refers to what the Gemara later (123a) describes as a utensil which is Muktzah due to its great value ("Muktzah Machmas Chisaron Kis"), which a person uses exclusively for the purpose for which it was made and is careful not to use it for any other purpose. Since the owner designates a place to store the utensil so that it not become dirty or ruined, and he actively sets it aside from use on Shabbos, it becomes Muktzah due to its great value. This is the type of utensil which Rashi describes when he says "Melachtan l'Isur" -- that is, a utensil which a person designated to use only for a prohibited purpose. Such a utensil becomes Muktzah according to everyone (even Rebbi Shimon), and it may not be moved even l'Tzorech Gufo u'Mekomo.

When Rashi here says that the weaver is not particular about using his rods for other purposes and they are "not designated for a forbidden labor," he does not mean that they are not a Kli she'Melachto l'Isur. Rather, Rashi means that we might have thought that the item no longer has any use whatsoever, since it was set aside not to be used at all on Shabbos. This type of Muktzah may not be moved at all.

Rashi uses the term "Kli she'Melachto l'Isur" to refer to a utensil that is set aside not to be used for any purpose on Shabbos in other Sugyos as well. The Gemara later (123a) discusses items that are Muktzah due to their great value, because they are set aside from being used for any purpose. Rashi says that a slaughterer's cutting board and a mortar also fall into this category. However, Rashi earlier (81a, DH Madochah Ketanah) says that a mortar is a utensil designated for a forbidden labor ("Kli she'Melachto l'Isur"). Apparently, Rashi uses the term "Kli she'Melachto l'Isur" to refer to a utensil which was set aside from being used for any purpose on Shabbos.

QUESTION: The Beraisa teaches that one should not walk on Shabbos the same way he walks during the week. The Gemara asks what type of walking is permitted during the week but is not permitted on Shabbos. The Gemara answers by citing a dialogue between Rebbi and Rebbi Yishmael b'Rebbi Yosi, who discussed whether one is permitted to walk with Pesi'ah Gasah (large steps) on Shabbos. When Rebbi asked whether one may walk with Pesi'ah Gasah on Shabbos, Rebbi Yishmael responded that not only is walking in such a way forbidden on Shabbos, but it is also forbidden during the week, because Pesi'ah Gasah takes away 1/500th of a person's eyesight.

How does the Gemara answer its original question, what type of walking is permitted during the week but prohibited on Shabbos? The Gemara concludes that walking with Pesi'ah Gasah is prohibited even during the week, and thus there is no difference between Shabbos and the rest of the week!

(a) Rebbi Yishmael b'Rebbi Yosi said that the reason one may not walk with Pesi'ah Gasah during the week is because it is dangerous to one's health. However, there is no prohibition or enactment per se that forbids it. On Shabbos, though, there is an enactment that forbids one from walking with Pesi'ah Gasah, in addition to the health risk that it poses. The prohibition is Divrei Kabalah, as derived from the verse in Yeshayah. (MAHARSHA)

(b) The SEFAS EMES explains that when Rebbi questioned whether Pesi'ah Gasah is permitted on Shabbos, he was not referring to the normal form of Pesi'ah Gasah. Walking with large steps is certainly forbidden on Shabbos as well as during the week. Rather, he was asking whether normal-sized steps are permitted on Shabbos, or whether one must walk with smaller than usual steps on Shabbos. When the Beraisa says that one should walk differently on Shabbos, it means that one should take smaller steps than he takes during the week. Rebbi Yishmael b'Rebbi Yosi apparently misunderstood Rebbi's question and thought that he was referring to taking larger than normal steps on Shabbos, and that is why he responded that even during the week such steps are prohibited.

This may be the meaning of the phrase, "Pos'im Bo Pesi'ah Ketanah" -- "We walk on it (Shabbos) with small steps," which we say in the Shabbos song, "Kol Mekadesh Shevi'i." On Shabbos we must walk differently than we walk during the week, and we must take smaller steps than usual (like Rebbi's ruling).

(c) TOSFOS in Ta'anis (10b, DH Pesi'ah Gasah) concludes that it is only the first step of Pesi'ah Gasah that takes away a fraction of one's eyesight. The subsequent steps have no effect. Accordingly, the Gemara here may mean that even after one has already walked one step with Pesi'ah Gasah, he is still not permitted to walk another Pesi'ah Gasah on Shabbos even though it is no longer harmful to his eyesight. Rebbi Yishmael b'Rebbi Yosi merely said that one should not enter a situation in which he is permitted to walk with Pesi'ah Gasah in the first place. Rather, one should be careful never to take the first step of Pesi'ah Gasah.